Make a boyfriend absolutely is a translation error. If you've ever talked to a single girl, or browsed a Korean social network, you'll see all kinds of girls using "만들고 싶어요" or some variation of that for talking about getting a boyfriend.

Not disputing that, I was saying if they come across 'make friends' in English first (which they probably do as their elementary school won't teach them about girlfriends/boyfriends) then the error could be said to be an overgeneralising one rather than a translation one.

That comes from the literal translation of 불쌍하다 which means "to pity". It irks me too, my friend said it all the time and would never correct himself.

While if you say "I'm sorry" like most English speakers(미안하다) that literally means you did something wrong you should apologize for. If you said this, which I have repeatedly, they would say something along the lines of "Why are you sorry?! Did you make me sick?"

In my experience, Koreans completely overuse/misuse the word. You can link as many articles as you want, but as a native speaker since birth I know when something sounds wrong. Famous is used when popular, well known or known for, would work better. Don't worry, this isn't an insult to Koreans. They're speaking a second language. I don't know why some people take offense to simply pointing out differences in languages or difficulties when learning either.

I will say though, that the overuse of this word becomes tiresome. Every little village in Korea is "famous" for some type of food, every temple is "famous", every Korean who has ever been in front of a camera is "famous". More often than not, Koreans will tell me the person we see is a "famous singer" or the temple we visit is a "famous temple". It's not famous if you can't tell me his/its name without looking it up. I would say it has something to do with language, but why not say he's a 'singer' or it's just a 'temple'. That's my mini rant.

will say though, that the overuse of this word becomes tiresome. Every little village in Korea is "famous" for some type of food, every temple is "famous", every Korean who has ever been in front of a camera is "famous". More often than not, Koreans will tell me the person we see is a "famous singer" or the temple we visit is a "famous temple". It's not famous if you can't tell me his/its name without looking it up. I would say it has something to do with language, but why not say he's a 'singer' or it's just a 'temple'. That's my mini rant.

Coupled with this is the fixed phrase they learn 'famous all over the world' which they apply a bit too liberally to anyone or anything someone outside Korea may have heard of. Actually finally nowadays they're using it in the correct context when they talk about PSY.

arbeit - to mean pt work
good - to mean im finished
pervert (beyontae) to mean just about everything (im amazed that such small children bandy the word pervert about).
time - to mean wait, please. im sure this came from a song a few years back and just stuck
and of course... nice to meet you!

Shut up! My previous boss held a meeting to tell the foreign staff this an extremely vulgar insult and parents were calling in about a teacher or teachers using this type of dirty language.

In English-speaking countries, it's a forceful or impolite way to say "be quiet."

I've never used this with a child. Not a student, and not my own child. I can't say it is vulgar, but it is rude, IMO. I wouldn't say it to a coworker either. I would say it with friends in a joking manner though. If my daughter came home from school and told me the teacher used that language with her, you bet I'd have an issue with it.

As for so-so, I've heard it used back home as well. It' doesn't sound at all out of the ordinary for me. Reminds me of comme ci, comme ca.

Today one of my student asked me "What does your cup contain?" I guess that's not technically wrong, but it is weird as hell.

I agree on the "two years later" thing, even with advanced students, but again it's more the fault of English than anything else....why do we say "a little later", or just "later" but not "[specific duration of time] later"?

One issue that hit me recently was how "office" is used in English. Some Koreans think it refers to the entire company only and not to an individual room with a person or people in it.

Actually I find the opposite more often -- Koreans always say "I go to my company at 9am", instead of "I go to my office" or "I go to work". I try to explain to them that the company is kind of an abstract thing not a specific place.